はじめる －The Beginning.

When I was little, I knew that somewhere out there, there was a place called Japan. I didn't understand the distance or even the reality of it at that time. The world I lived in was small, containing the block I lived in, the grocery store down the street, the school I went to, and on occasion, a place somewhere a little farther off like the grandparents' place in Idaho - in which the world seemed to stretch and strain in order for me to get there and have such a place exist.

Japan was just another place out there somewhere beyond my world - vague and surrounded in mystery. Back then, I knew only a few facts: My grandmother was Japanese, thus making me part Japanese, the kimono my mother kept safely stored away for me was from Japan, and that manju and yokan, a rare treat we sometimes got in the mail from my grandmother was a Japanese food.

For some reason, I only needed those facts to compel me to try and learn the language and pursue the idea of ever going to Japan. That was in third grade.

Since then, I've mostly studied the language and culture on my own, with only one year of study in a classroom setting (that was all that was available for me). When I applied for a scholarship to become an exchange student in Japan for the summer of 2007, it seemed pretty unlikely due to my lack of official Japanese study and the fact that I was a year late in applying. But I guess I got ridiculously lucky and they thought that there was something good was on my resume. I was soon applying for my passport and packing for Japan!

Japan is different from America, and there's a lot that goes unsaid in books and websites. There's nothing out there that can accurately describe the culture. While I did write in journals when I was there, I never really blogged about it. So when I applied for an internship to teach English in Japan for four months - and was accepted - I knew that a blog was a must.

So here it is, that's what you're reading right now. Starting in the month of August and continuing through December 2009, this blog will capture the everyday life in Japan, from the broad ideas to the little quirks of Japanese culture (which there are many odd quirks indeed!).

I hope that those of you who come across this will enjoy the insights and observations I make during my stay - and learn more about the world outside your own.


Because out there, it is a very big world indeed.